Thousands march in central Brussels against antisemitism

Thousands of people take to the streets of Brussels to protest antisemitism, after a surge in outbreaks across Europe during the war between Israel and Hamas.

Brussels police say around 4,000 people attended the march in the Belgian capital, with some holding placards reading: “You don’t have to be Jewish to march against antisemitism.”

“An old evil is resurfacing in Europe,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says during a Hanukkah candlelighting event in front of the Commission and European Council headquarters in Brussels. “Swastikas have been painted on the homes of Jews. Synagogues have been vandalized. Jewish children have been locked in their schools because the streets are not safe for them. This is horrific. And it is painful.”

“There should be no place for this hatred, especially here in Europe. And there is no justification to the rise in antisemitism. No war, no political argument, can excuse it,” she adds.